Gas or oil tank cap



April 13, 1954 A. B. MCcALL. ET AL. 2,675,093

GAS 0R OIL TANK CAP Filed oct. s, 1949 NVENTRS.

Patented Apr. 13, 1954 GAS R GIL TANK CAP Arthur B. McCalL'Spx-ingfield, and Vertus C. Barnett, Greenview, Ill.

Application October 3, 1949, Serial No. 119,234 1 claim. (c1. 18s-45) Our invention has to do with fittings for containers such as fluid containers, and especially such fittings as closure caps and filtering attach'- ments; an object being to provide means for filtering dust, dirt, bean fuzz, etc., from replacement air as it .enters such container throughthe cap or lter fitting; to absorb some moisture from such air at the same time and prevent the loss of fluids and volatile gases from said container through the cap or tting when the same is being bumped about in service.

A purpose of our invention is to provide a cap or fitting for containers of gasoline, oil and other fluids where the cap or'fitting is equipped with preferably felt for filtering dust, dirt, grain fuzz and the like, out of the air entering the containers; to provide means for absorbing moisture from such air and to provide in such a cap or fitting such a novel and eflicient combination of functioning parts as `will greatly reduce the escape of such fluids vfrom such container when the same is being `bumped and jostled about roughly in service where, in the case of gasoline', for instance, it is at least` hazardous and wasteful ,to bumpgasout onto thegastank `where it will spoil paint and may catch re.

A further purpose of our invention is to provide a fuel tank cap constructed to define a top cover member with a series of air intakes forming a group of comfortable and attractive hand grips, a bottom insert cup with relatively large vent holes in its base, a Venturi plate defining a back splash deflector directly over the base to break up the back splashing gas into a spray, with a central inverted collar on this plate to trap agitated gases and vapors and quickly return them to the fuel tank; while a filter felt member covering the Venturi plate also helps to retain the light ends or vapor elements of the gas when they try to escape and this filter felt member resting as it does on the Venturi plate and directly up under the top cover member, is held in a strategic position to thus serve its important double purpose, with a resulting better eiciency of the engine and valves.

We achieve our purposes by the fluid container cap and fitting described herein, dened in the claims and shown in their preferred novel and practical assembly in the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective of a vertical halfsection through our cap, and showing die punched holes in the bottom of the cup chamber and showing a felt lter.

Figure 2 is a perspective of an exploded view of the top cover and bottom cup portion of our cap, showing their relative fitting relation.

Figure 3 is a vertical half-section of our cap in which figure we show punched or drilled, holes in the bottom of the vacuum chamber and this figure shows a felt and silica gel lter insert.

Fig. 4 is a side view of our cap.

It is obviously not an essential feature of importance in our invention whether it is secured to the container by threads, by spring clamp or by other means and we here respectfully make reference to a now pending application, Serial Number 729,791, filed February 20, 194'?,` and now Patent 2,603,308 dated July 15, 1952.

Thus, in our gas tank cap, we have a main cup member I, into which we place a felt ltering insert 2 which catches the above mentioned dust, dirt and bean fuzz so it cannot enter the gas tank. A second insert 3y may be used when needed, by the farmer, and is made of a felt ring 4 filled with silica gel 5 and covered with` felt caps 6 and l so as to more effectively absorb moisture entering the cap with the replacement air, which action is more needed indamp coldseasons and places than ,it is in hot dry harvest days.

A top cover 8 for cup I is shapedto definev a series of spaced upright `ribs 9, each of which, by its inner wall, forms an upright channel or air intake passage Ill through which the replacement air enters the gas tank cap.

Just one of these air intake passages if always open, would admit enough air to let the gas out of the tank II when running, but this series of passages IIJ provides a greater chance for continued service in addition to the fact that, as designed, these upright ribs 9 dene an attractive and very effective hand grip for holding the cap when turning it.

When dust, dirt, bean fuzz, etc., enter upright air intake passages III at their bottom end I2 it is deposited on top surface I3 of felt insert 2 in Fig. 2 or top surface of silica gel felt insert 3 in Fig. 3, as the air goes on down through these ltering inserts on its way to tank Il.

In the novel construction of our invention, after this replacement air passes through the felt filter 2 or 3, it then moves down through the funnel shaped or Venturi passage I5 in Venturi plate I6, then through vacuum chamber I'I and out into tank II through punched outlets IB and I9 in bottom 20 of cup I (see Figure 1).

Rivets 23 and 24 hold clip 25 securely in place on the under side of bottom 20 of cup I.

Thus, with this construction of our gas tank cap, it will be readily realized that weI can usually prevent the escape of gas out through the gas cap for the following reason:

When the machine is in operation with the gasoline jostling about in tank II, the back splash of the gas forces it up into chamber I1 through holes I8 and I9, thus, forcing the gas up where it is hard for it to pass up through Venturi hole I5, like going through a funnel backward and upward. This Venturi hole I5 is preferably about the capacity of both holes IS and I9 and the back splash or "breather action of the gas movement has, under severe tests, only been able to g'et a very little gasoline up through the top of Jche funnel center in Venturi plate I6 and when it does, it is stopped by the iiltering felt above it only to quickly run back down into Venturi hole I5 and into chamber I1 and tank II again through holes I8 and I9.

We prefer a water-proof neoprene or other synthetic material not affected by gasoline for our cap gaskets, which can be made more effective .by a little surfacing of Vaseline or the like.

Note, in Figure 2, that we prefer to provide about four opposed relatively small upright peripheral ribs 27 and `23 in the side wall 29 of cup I sothat vany two opposed upright channels or air passages I9 of ribs 9 may slip down over smaller ribs 2l and 28 as an effective means of holding top cover member Il from turning on cup I when in place.

When hand grips or ribs 9 are used, then no knurling is needed on cover 8.

In the manufacture of our invention, it will be desired to press Venturi plate I6 down over chamber I1 to thus eiectively form lower vacuum chamber I1 with this Venturi top plate adapted to effectively rebuf and break up the back splashing gas into a spray that is trapped and quickly returns back into the tank Il.

It will be apparent that when the pressure in tank II for any reason falls below thatof atmosphere, air will bedrawn through fluted portions 9, through lter 4, aperture I5 and perforations I8 and I9 to relieve this condition. In the event that pressure in tank II exceeds atmospheric gases will flow in reverse direction,

' and vapor particles in the gases will beltered out and returned to the gasoline tank through Vaperture I5.

The operative efliciency of our gas cap has been repeatedly tested by farmers and manufacturers in field service and laboratories with most satisfactory results and, having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

A filtering cap assembly'adapted for attachment to the inlet opening of a gasoline tank comprising a cup member so shaped to define a lower space of small diameters and an upper space oi Ygreater diameter, spaced breather holes in the bottom of said member, a baille and condensation plate press-tted in the upper portion of said member and having a Venturi shaped aperture with a downwardly extending flange therethrough, said plate forming the boundary between said lower and upper spaces, a cover cap adapted to fit telescopically about the upper rim of said cup member, ribson'said upper rim to hold the cap frornturnin'g when in place, fluted portions pressed outwardly Vfrom the side and'top walls of Vsaid cover cap'to yforni airpassages from the atmosphere tothe said upper space, and, a filtering member substantially lling said upper space and above said plate, a clip secured to the bottom of said c upjthe portion'of said cup formingv the lower space being'adaptedto iit into the lling opening of'a 'gasoline' tank andto be received therein by said clip', whereby air entering or leaving said gasoline tank as a result Vof breathing action must pass through said cap assembly and filtering member.

References Cited in the 111e Of this patent UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 995,314 Abs June 13, 1911 1,841,691 Wilson Jan; 19, 1932 2,117,369 Shaw May 17, 1938 2,220,328 Grothe Nov. 5, 1940 2,314,330 Eshba'ugh et al May 23, 1943 2,496,883 McKalip Feb/'7, 1950 

